It had been predicted for nearly three months, and for the past two
weeks U.S. seismologists had kept their ears to the ground in hopes of
catching the faint tremor. High-flying U-2 reconnaissance jets, mounted
with fallout-collecting air scoops, stood ready along the shores of
Asia to fly at a moment's notice. Then, sure enough, another mushroom
cloud rose slowly into the skies over Lop Nor in China's harsh Takla
Makan Desert.

Hardly a Surprise. Peking's second nuclear explosion was a bit bigger
than its first of seven months...